4 ll. t. Ch . 11 ( had completed by 1826. With the exception of Chemical Manipulation, all of Fara- day's books had previously appeared in the periodical litera- ture or else were transcriptions of public lectures. Like many another text, it arose out of a course, this one given at the Royal Institution as William Jensen describes in his "Michael Fara- day and the Art and Science of Chemical Manipulation". Faraday had plans for a new edition of Chemical Manipulation and as a former bookbinder he prepared an interleaved copy that he annotated with new material. This copy is now the proud possession of Sydney Ross who describes his treasure in "The Chemical Manipulator". Ross is also the author of "Unpublished Letters of Faraday and Others to Edward Daniel Clarke", interesting examples of the minutiae, then as now, of scientific life. For chemists Faraday's crowning achievement was the enunciation of the law(s) of electrolysis, as described in John Stock's "The Pathway to the Laws of Electrolysis". The final paper, "From Electrochemical Equivalency to a Mole of Electrons: The Evolution of the Faraday" by Marcy Hamby Towns and Derek Davenport, was first presented at a Work- shop for Teachers held during the Great Lakes Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Indianapolis in late May. It is directed more at teachers of chemistry than at historians of chemistry but it may serve to illustrate a firmly held belief that history is too important to be left entirely to the Y n M h l r d historians. Acknowledgements: Several years ago The Camille and than a 1000 occasions, and where Davy, Dewar, Young, Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., was one of the principal Rayleigh, Rutherford, Arrhenius, Cannizarro, Mendeleev, donors when Faraday's basement laboratory at the Royal Hoffmann, Bridgman, Lawrence and William Bragg, and Institution was converted into the wonderfully elaborative Pauling have also stood, Wordsworth's reference to "the Faraday Museum. Their fealty to Faraday was again mani- spiritual presence of absent friends" comes to mind. fested with the award in 1990 of a special grant in the chemical No chemist (organic, physical, analytical, surface or elec- sciences that helped to underwrite this symposium and to make tro-), no physicist, no engineer or materials scientist is unaware possible the production of this bumper issue of the Bulletin. of Faraday's towering contributions to their subject. No Thanks are also due to the Petroleum Research Foundation of experimentalist has ever bequeathed to posterity a greater body the American Chemical Society for providing travel support of pure scientific achievement than Faraday and the practical for two of our visitors from England. consequences of his discoveries have profoundly influenced the very nature of civilized life. Yet he was self-taught: he left Derek A. Davenport, Purdue University school at the age of 12, and started his career as an errand boy, then as a bookbinder. He rose to be one of the greatest scientists of the age. At the same time, he remained morally incorruptible THE ROYAL INSTITUTION & MICHAEL and throughout his life retained his boyish sense of awe and FARADAY: A PERSONAL VIEW humility. In reading his work, just as in contemplating his astonishing range of accomplishments, we are conscious of the John Meurig Thomas, Royal Institution of Great Britain presence of a unique human being (2 :
Having lived and worked for five years in Michael Faraday's th n t nd rf l t b tr , f t b n t nt th th l home and laboratory, my initial interest in, andcuriosity about, f n t r nd, n h th n th , xp r nt th b t t t f the great scientist has developed into a passionate admiration h n t n . for all that he stood for and achieved (1). His scientific and spiritual presence at the Royal Institution confers a unique aura In none of his 450 publications is there a single differential that pervades the whole place. One cannot escape it. When- equation, for he knew no mathematics. But, according to ever I stand at the lecturer's desk, where Faraday stood on more Albert Einstein, Faraday was responsible, along with Clerk Bull. Hist. Chem. 1 1 (1 99 1) 5
Maxwell, for the greatest change in the theoretical basis of bl I. r d pr n p l ntr b t n t h l n . physics since Newton. The story of Faraday's life speaks to us across the years, and its romance bears repetition to every generation. Who was this 8 6 (W th v Ev l t n f n r f t l p. man? What were his precise contributions? And why is it that 8 8 24 r p r t n nd pr p rt f ll t l ( t d f Ind n no name stands higher in the general esteem of scientists the W tz . M t ll r ph . world over than that of Faraday? In the definitive biography of 8 2 0 An l t l h tr . t r n t n f p r t nd Faraday by L. Pearce Williams these questionsand others are p t n f l , n t v l , t r, np d r, r t, answered in great detail (3). In a more recent, less comprehen- dr d f h, v r , l d nd l d . sive analysis, I have endeavoured to weave the genius of 820 26 Or n h tr . v r f b nz n , b t n , Faraday the man with that of the place where he lived for nearly t tr hl r th n , h x hl r b nz n , r f 50 years and where he worked for a somewhat longer period - l n nd f nd [ n pth l n lph n d , the Royal Institution (4). Fresh light on the private, public and v l n z t n f r bb r. h t h l pr p r t n . religious life, as well as the scientific work, of Faraday contin- 82 I pr v nt n th pr d t n f pt l r d l . ues to be shed (5, 6). These complement a number of classic, 82 8z f t n f ( 2S, SO2 nd x th r . earlier studies, dating from the fascinating and elegant survey 84 n z d x t n f r t l t p r t r nd of Faraday as a Discoverer (7) by his contemporary and suc- t bl h d r l t f nt n t f t t . cessor, John Tyndall, and the Life and Letters of Michael 8 6 El tr h tr nd th l tr l pr p rt f tt r. Faraday (8) by his friend, the eminent contemporary physi- f l tr l . E v l n f v lt , t t , cian, H. Bence Jones, who was Secretary of the Royal Institu- th r l nd n l l tr t . r t x pl f th r t r tion from 1860 to 1873. t n. d lt l tr l t , p r n nd t r . It is convenient to enumerate Faraday's contributions under 8 4 t r n t l . n n nd nh b t n f two somewhat arbitrary headings: chemistry on the one hand, rf r t n . S l t v d rpt n. W tt b l t f and electricity and magnetism on the other (see Tables 1 and 2). l d . These enumerations reflect the vast extent of Faraday's canvas 8 " l " h tr nd th n t pr p rt f and cogently exemplify the interdisciplinary nature of his tt r. M n t pt . r d ff t. n t . pursuits. Little wonder that the Faraday Society (now the r n t . An tr p . Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry) was set 8 C ll d l t l . S tt r n f l ht. S l nd h dr l . up to explore the territory between well-established divisions of natural philosophy. No one has more brilliantly investigated the interfacial regions separating existing disciplines than did Michael Faraday. in Faraday's day, he would have won at least six! The citations Vast as the subject matter encompassed by Tables 1 and 2 could well have been for the: is, it is somewhat paradoxical that the enumerations therein * Discovery of electromagnetic induction which, along tend to conceal the really major breakthroughs that Faraday with his earlier related work on the relationship between made. It has often been said that, had there been Nobel prizes electricity and magnetism, brought forth the first transformer, dynamo and electric motor. * Laws of electrolysis, which rank among the most accu- rate generalizations in science. (These led, through the subse- quent work ofJohnstone Stoney, Helmholtz and J. J. Thomson, to the realization that matter is electrical in nature. They also led to the idea of ions, electrodes, electrolytes - all terms that Faraday, along with his polymathic Cambridge friend, Whew- ell, coined - and to electrodeposition, electroplating, coulom- etry and electrochemical analysis). * Discovery of the magnetic properties of matter and the foundation of magnetochemistry (the terms paramagnetism and diamagnetism; paramagnetism of oxygen gas). * Discovery of benzene and his analysis of its composi- tion. (Faraday was as much the founder of the chemical - certainly the dyestuffs and explosives - industry as of the electrical power generation and electroplating industries. Table b b t r h r r d r d n ppr nt . 3 summarizes the set of compounds intimately associated with
6 ll. t. Ch . (
Faraday's work as an organic chemist). bl 2, r d pr n p l ntr b t n t ph l n . * Discovery of the Faraday effect (the rotation of the plane of polarization of light by a magnetic field) and for laying the foundations of magneto-optics. 82 El tr n t r t t n , * Introduction of the notion of a field. (Unlike his con- 8 El tr n t nd t n. A t v br t n , temporary scientists, Faraday refused to be guided solely by 8 2 Id nt t f l tr t fr v r r . the mathematical precision of Coulomb's law in interpreting 8 El tr l t d p t n . the forces between charges, He reflected deeply upon what 8 h r f l tr t thr h v t d , occurred in the intervening space. This led him, in turn, to ( l ph nd h tr , discover induction, inductive capacity and permittivity. He 8 6 El tr t t . r d , 84 l t n h p b t n l ht, l tr t nd n t d n t p r n t , 846 " h ht n r v br t n ", 84 Gr v t nd l tr t , 8 nd n t . 862 Infl n f n t f ld n th p tr l l n f d . n f f r nd th n pt f f ld, h n r f n t l t d t p r t r. h n t n th t l ht, n t nd l tr t r nt r nn t d,
tion, Chemists are also unaware of the role that Faraday played in laying the foundation of the technology of the modern world, To his numerous gifts as an experimentalist and theorist. Faraday possessed two other talents that set him apart from most other scientists (9), First, his published papers are masterpieces of lucidity, self-criticism and insight, and con- jure up a sense of perspective that is rather rare in the writings of chemists and physicists. Second, he believed passionately in the importance of conveying the essence of science to lay audiences and to young children. A few examples will suffice, Faraday begins his classic paper "On the Magnetization of Light and the Illumination of Magnetic Lines of Force", which he wrote on 5 November 1845, thus (10):
I h v l n h ld n p n n, l t nt n t nv t n, n n I b l v th n th r l v r f n t r l n l d , th t
bl . h p t n l nd tr t r l f r l f b t n An n t v th nt r r n tr t n f r d f r t d v r d b r d . xp r nt th l tr t h l t ll b b nd r ppr nt ,
S b t n Ch t l rn l Sh t r l rrr n also convinced himself that the energy of a magnet could extend beyond the perimeter of the magnet itself), C2CI, tr hl r ln l n ( th r: n:t ll t n t Einstein is said to have kept a portrait of Faraday on the wall C2Cl x hl rn th n of his study. How appropriate, for it was Faraday who served as the pioneer and prophet of the grand revision that made (C 2 , . b t l n t b l n l Einstein's work possible. Many chemists - fewer physicists! - are unaware of the major theoretical impetus provided by C6 , rb t t f r n Faraday, They tend to think of him largely as the experimen- ( nz n , tal genius that he undoubtedly was, a man for whom the phth l n S ph n A d primacy of experiment always took precedence over specula-
ll. t. Ch . ( th v r f r nd r h h th f r f tt r r d n f t h v n n r n r, n th r rd , r d r tl r l t d nd t ll d p nd nt, th t th r nv rt bl , t r , n nt n th r, nd p v l nt f p r n th r t n. In d t th pr f f th r nv rt b l t h v b n l t d t v r n d r bl xt nt, nd n nt d f th d t r n t n f th r v l nt f r ,
Faraday expressed the view that evening lectures, of the kind introduced by him at the Royal Institution in 1826- the famous Friday Evening Discourses - should amuse and entertain as well as educate, edify and, above all, inspire, This is the principle that continues to inspire the Royal Institution's numerous educational activities, especially the Christmas Lectures, which were also introduced by Faraday in 1826, and given by him on 19 occasions. The most famous series of Christmas Lectures remains A rt n b rr rn d p t n f th f nt t h h v l t r d t th l In t t t n. r d nd hn nd ll r n th d t f r r nd h l h xl h ld f rth t th l t r d ,
d pp nt n h n th f r bj t r th r th n n n r
,0 ..•■•= t p , h h ld n t b b tt r, r t v n d. And b f r pr d n , l t th l th t th h r bj t b r t, nd r nt nt n th t f tr t n t h n tl , r l , nd ph l ph ll , t I n t p fr ll th h r n r n t . I l th pr v l f p n t j v n l j v n l lf, I h v d n n f r r n nd, f pl , I h ll d n. And th h I t nd h r th th n l d f h v n th rd I tt r v n t th rld, t th t h ll n t d t r fr p n n th f l r t th h I t n r t t n th n. And n , b nd rl , I t f r t t ll f h t ndl r d . S r r t r t . I h v h r b t f t b r, A l t th nt r t h n f th n l t r h ll t th l In t t t n. those given by Michael Faraday on h Ch l t r f C ndl . (Japanese translations of this book have run to over 70 editions,) In his opening remarks in the first of his x lectures, Faraday spoke to the multitude of children assembled in the theatre of the Royal Institution in December, 1860 thus (11):
I h v t n th bj t n f r r n nd r t l ft t n ll, I h ld pr f r t r p t t l t v r r b nd nt th nt r t th t tt h t lf t th bj t, nd rf l r th v r t f tl t h h t ff r nt th v r d p rt nt f ph l ph . h r n t l nd r h h n p rt f th n v r v rn d h h d n t nt pl , nd t h d p n n th ph n n . h r n b tt r, th r n r p n d r b h h n nt r nt th t d f n t r l ph l ph , th n b n d r n Ext r r f th l In t t t n n 8 8, th ph l ph n n f ndl . I tr t, th r f r , I h ll n t ( r n t h n b h S. Sh pp rd 8 ll. t. Ch . ( br n h f tr p rt l rl f f r th r b rn n . And h r licly at Discourses in the Royal Institution, They were in- p f th t v r r b t n t n t f f th b tended to leave an indelible impression and in this he suc- n Ir l nd, ll d ndl d, h rd, tr n , x ll nt d, ceeded triumphantly. Last, he had the good fortune to have as v d ntl f tt d f r d r r t r f f r , nd t th l one of his interpreters one of the greatest physicists since b rn n ll th t h r t f nd th pl nt r f t, nd Newton - J. Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell selected "Faraday's t r h , n t b l ndl , nd v v r d l ht nd d. Lines of Force" as the title of his brilliant paper delivered to the And n th d h v n f th t b t f l ll tr t n f th Cambridge Philosophical Society in December 1855 and n r l n t r f ndl th t I n p bl v , h f l pr v d d, February 1856, when he was a 24-year old Fellow of Trinity th n f br n n th t f l t th pl f h l t n, th College, Cambridge (15). With that monumental work, mathe- r l r nd r d l ppl f r t th t pl f t n h t nd l ht matical precision and quantitative prediction were added to ll pr d d b l ttl p f d f th nd, f r n , n f t, Faraday's qualitative views on field theory in general and to n t r l ndl , electromagnetism in particular. With this event a new era dawned. At the end of his sixth and last lecture he said (12): References and Notes All I n t t th nd f th l t r (f r t t n nd t n t r th r t xpr h th t , n r . h p p r n bbr v t d v r n f l t r v n t th n r t n, b f t t p r t ndl th t , l t, h n A r n Ch l S t " r d S p ", Apr l , An l ht t th b t th t n ll r t n , j t f xt nd d v r n f th th r v n th th h r ntl b n th b t f th t p r b n r d d h n r bl nd ff t l p bl h d r f r n 4, C p b bt n d n rth A r n th d h r f r d t t r f ll n, fr h A r n In t t t f h , Al C, 64 p t d, C h t r, 0 44 , USA, These words, and those that follow them, along with the 2. , M rt n, d,, Faraday's Diary, (1820-1862),7 l ., ll, elegant sequence of simple experiments described by Faraday nd n 6, Entr f r M r h 84 , l. , p, 2. in the written version of his Christmas Lectures have made The . . , W ll , Michael Faraday, A Biography, Ch p n Chemical History of a Candle a classic in the annals of science. nd ll, nd n, 6 , The Preface, composed with much felicity for a later edition by 4. , M, h , Michael Faraday and The Royal Institution: William Crookes (1832-1919), a prominent member and ac- The Genius of Man and Place, Ad l r, r t l, . tive participant in the affairs of the Institution (and President of . G. A, C nt r, Michael Faraday: Sandemanian and Scientist, the Chemical Society), adds to the charm (13): M ll n, nd n, . 6. . r , Michael Faraday and the Modern World, E A r th pr t v p n t r h t th p r ff n ndl , h d n r , S ffr n W ld n, En l nd, , nt rv l t n th h v t ntr t h n d pt d b . , nd ll, Faraday as a Discoverer, n n, Gr n nd n t ll n t h h t n ht, t p t n h p t n n th C ., nd n, 868. l f v l t n. h fl d b t n f th f r E t, bl z n n r d 8. . n n , The Life and Letters of Faraday, n n , v l f b d rth th Etr n l p, x t n f r , t ll Gr n & C ., nd n, 8 0, d pt d t t ff th h l , l, r b r f t, f ll n th h t f th . h h r d n n th t , h , rd n t E x r p th d r r th r th n l ht th h x ndl . Cl r M x ll, " n r l t th t n f v r h h rd r n th l tt r n lt r, th r n f l p n r tr t , ll h v n fr h th th t n f th f t r d r v v l bl th r t r t t ll, All, f th ld p ( nd, ft r th r n nd f rt l th d ". nn r, th n , ht r r h rt n t ll n , h th h v 0. M. r d , "On M n t z t n f ht nd th Ill n t n n t r d t n f rt, l v f h , t l, nd d v t n. f M n t n f r ", Phil. Trans. Roy. S ., 1846, 136, 62. . M, r d , h Ch l t r of a C ndl , rp r, New Apart from his astonishing range of discoveries, at least Y r , Y, 86 , pp. . four other factors have helped to make Faraday immortal. 2. Ib d., p. 8 . First, he wrote and spoke about his work in memorable ways. 13. Ibid., p. v, At v r t , W ll Cr r d nt Second, he recorded everything that he observed experimen- f th Ch l S t , th In t t t n f El tr l En n r , th tally at the time of the observation. (His diaries (14) reveal that S t f Ch l Ind tr , th r t h A t n nd th l he invariably recorded the key points of each experiment; he S t . d v r d th l nt th ll , nd nv nt d th also had the habit of writing up his work promptly for publica- r d t r nd th v t d t b n d ft r h . tion. 'Work, finish, publish' was one of his mottos!) Third, 4. f r n 2. r d d d n t n n b r n h p r almost all the successful experiments that he carried out he r ph nt l 2 A t 8 , th d t h d v r d l tr n t proceeded to refine, with a view to demonstrating them pub- nd t n. r th t d t t h l t ntr , n 2 M r h 862, th r Bull. t. Ch . 11 (
r ,000 p r r ph , . , Cl r M x ll, " r d n f r ", r , C b. h l. S ., 1856, 0( , 6.
John Meurig Thomas is Fullerian Professor of Chemistry and formerly Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albermarle St., London,WIX 4BS , England. He also serves as Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales and was knighted in 1991 in recognition of his researches on catalysis and for his work in popularizing science, Professor Thomas is the author of the book "Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution: The Genius of Man and Place" and coeditor of "Selections and Reflections: The Legacy of Sir Lawrence Bragg".
FARADAY AND HIS BIOGRAPHERS
L, Pearce Williams, Cornell University Michael r d Before examining the biographers of Faraday, it is worth ( r n b G r h nd raising the question of the value of biography where scientists are concerned. For artists and writers, movers and shakers in is the result of extremely complex social negotiations that lead the political and military spheres, the answer is obvious. to a consensus. Science, then, is as much a social product of Biography permits us to understand the motives and the human beings as it is a description of some posited objective influences that shaped these people and this gives us real nature, Indeed, for some of the more extreme social con- insight into their works. The case with scientists would seem structionists, nature itself places no constraints upon the con- to be quite different. The same nature is there for everyone and struction of scientific theories. This position is occupied by differences of education, religion, private thoughts or what very few, yet it does serve to illustrate just how far from the old have you cannot change it. Biographies of scientists, it would views we (meaning historians, philosophers and sociologists appear, therefore, are useful only in the sense that they permit of science) have come. I would not expect that these views will a person's life work to be easily summarized and presented. be greeted with wild enthusiasm by practicing chemists, but This was the view that prevailed until quite recently. you should be aware of them and, perhaps, even invest some Biographies of scientists tended to be eulogies and, with the time in studying them. truly great ones such as Isaac Newton or Charles Darwin, In this new world of social construction, biography moves hagiographies detailing and celebrating their achievements. to a central position, The source of original ideas and hypothe- No one claimed that biographies of scientists could tell us ses is to be sought in the rich internal lives of creative scientists. much about science and how it works, except insofar as they Or, to put it another way, new ideas can come from anywhere focused on persistence, experimental expertise and theoretical - they are not, necessarily, the product of the study of nature. insights. All that has now changed. Ever since the publication So, for example, it has been demonstrated rather clearly that of Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Isaac Newton drew some of his most important scientific the whole picture of the nature of science has been dramatically hypotheses from his concept of the nature of God, not from the altered. As is well known, Kuhn's major point was that study of the world, And, as will become evident here, the same scientists do not "discover" nature; they "construct" it. The is true of Faraday, The only way to discover these sources is raw materials are, of course, the phenomena of the natural to examine closely the lives of these innovators upon whom the world but the selection of which materials to use and the life of science depends. Furthermore, the fate of what starts out arrangement of these materials into coherent theories are the as hypotheses, if it depends upon social negotiation, can only product of the scientists, not of nature. Furthermore, which be understood if these negotiations are examined in detail, theories survive and which die aboming is not determined, Once again, the essential fulcrum for prying into historical according to Kuhn, by their "fit" with observed phenomena but reality is the life of individuals, This is a very complicated